Empower America

Empower America was a right-wing think tank established in 1993. In July 2004 it merged with Citizens for a Sound Economy to form a new group called FreedomWorks. 

Mission statement
According to its web site, Empower America was "devoted to ensuring that government actions foster growth, economic well-being, freedom and individual responsibility. The ideas that have fueled America's stunning economic expansion - opportunity, competition, ownership and freedom - must be the framework for reform of century-old public systems such as K-12 education, the tax code and social security. Uniquely positioned in Washington, Empower America bridges the gap between the array of think tanks that produce white papers on the public-policy debate and the actual enactment of policy. In implementing our free-market, entrepreneurial principles into law, we are convinced, through actual experience, that we are the most effective 'delivery' system in existence.

"In pursuit of our mission, Empower America practices strategic intervention to achieve our goals. Our response to issues, whether reaching out through the media, communicating directly with legislators and political leaders, sponsoring solution-finding or consensus-building forums, or mobilizing public opinion at the grassroots level, is always results-oriented.

"Empower America has demonstrated that it has considerable influence on our core issues - education reform, technology policy, tax reform, social security reform and national defense. Our victories are attributable, in large part, to our ability to focus on the right issue, at the right time, with maximum impact and maximum exposure."

Board of Directors

 * William J. Bennett, Co-Director
 * Jack F. Kemp, Co-Director
 * Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Co-Director
 * Vin Weber, Co-Director
 * William Sebastian Cohen, Co-Director
 * E. Floyd Kvamme, Chairman of the Board
 * James R. Taylor, President
 * Joseph G. Fogg III, Chairman of the Advisory Board
 * Theodore J. Forstmann, Founding Chairman
 * Tim Blexseth, President, Blixseth Companies, Rancho Mirage, CA
 * Jamie B. Coulter, Chairman/CEO, Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc., Dallas, TX
 * Ronald E. Eibensteiner, President, Wyncrest Capital, Minneapolis, MN
 * Raul Fernandez, Chairman Emeritus, Dimension Data, Reston, VA
 * Gov. James S. Gilmore III, Partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, Washington, DC
 * David W. Hanna, Chairman, Hanna Capital Management, Newport Beach, CA
 * Lisa Graham Keegan, CEO, Education Leaders Council, Washington, DC
 * Michael Novak, George Fredrick Jewett Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
 * Joseph Schmuckler, COO, Nomura Holding America, Inc., New York, NY
 * Judy Shelton, Economist, Professor, Author, Marshall, VA
 * Jack Thompson, Co-founder (retired), J.E. Edwards, Larkspur, CO
 * Thomas W. Weisel, CEO, Thomas Weisel Partners, San Francisco, CA

Others

 * Tex Lezar was chairman of Empower America in 1996-97.
 * Shawn Small &mdash; Director of Policy

EMPOWER.org was formally established on November 19, 1999, as the education and research arm of Empower America. EMPOWER.org was sponsored by an independent Board of Directors, and described itself as a non-partisan, non-profit organization.

William J. Bennett and Jack F. Kemp were Co-Directors of EMPOWER.org. David W. Hanna was Chairman of the Board; James R. Taylor was President and CEO; Noreen E. Burns was Secretary; and Joan Y. Nicolaysen was Treasurer.

Connection with the Claremont Institute
Empower America appears to have been operationally connected to the Claremont Institute. Although it is based in California, and Empower America was based in Washington, a November 4th 2003 press release from the Claremont Institute directs press inquiries to Seth Leibsohn at Empower America's Washington telephone number.

Contact
Empower America/EMPOWER.org 1775 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20006-5805 Phone: 202 452-8200 FAX: 202 833-0388 Web site: www.empoweramerica.org or www.empower.org

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * David Kuo
 * FreedomWorks
 * Citizens for a Sound Economy
 * Claremont Institute
 * Josette Sheeran - former president and CEO